2026 4th Quarter Variety Webinar

Contact Hours: 5 

Date: 10/18/26 (Sunday)

Time: TBA

Cost: TBA

This webinar will be recorded and available for review for 30 days for all registered participants. 

Webinar titles and objectives:

Demystifying Hand Stiffness: Understanding the Causes, Assessment, and Management of the Stiff Hand

Presented by: Shrikant Shinchalkar, M.Th.O, B.Sc.OT, OTR, CHT

Bio

Shrikant J. Chinchalkar, OTR, CHT, worked as a Senior hand therapist at the Roth-McFarlane Hand & Upper Limb Centre, St. Joseph’s Health Centre in London, Ontario, Canada for 26 years. He has over 50 years of clinical experience in treating upper extremity conditions, nearly 40 years of teaching and 35 years of research experience. He designed and developed Hand Therapy programs at four major teaching centers in Canada including Roth-McFarlane Hand & Upper Limb Centre in London, Ontario. In addition, he designed Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Injury, Elbow, Wrist and Hand Rehabilitation programs at these hospitals in Canada. In addition, he designed the most structured “Hand Therapy Fellowship program” for training of therapists at this center. He worked as a guest lecturer at University of Manitoba, University of Toronto and Western University in Canada. He conducted many instructional courses on upper extremity rehabilitation in over 28 countries in the world and has won many awards for his presentations. He has over 300 presentations to his credit. He was awarded the “Dr. Paul Brand Award of Excellence” by the American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT), “Award of Leadership” by the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT), “Award of Excellence” by the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Hospital, “Best Educator” by the Western University, “Most Outstanding Prestigious Alumni”by the Nagpur University in India, the “Lifetime Membership Award” by the Canadian Society of Hand Therapists (CSHT)and an award of “Excellence in Teaching and Coaching” by the administration of the St. Joseph’s Hospital. In 2017 the Hand Therapy fellowship program was named after him. It is now called as “Chinchalkar Hand Therapy Fellowship Program” at the Roth-McFarlane Hand & Upper Limb Center. In 2019 he received a “Life Time Achievement Award” by the International Federation of Society of Hand Therapists (IFSHT) in Berlin. Recently in 2019 he was chosen as an Honorary Advisor to the Asia Pacific Wrist Association in Seoul, Korea during their annual conference. Shrikant is also an “Honorary Advisor to Society of Hand Therapy, India”. He is a member of “Education Committee of IFSHT”. Shrikant has authored seven book chapters and has published more than 50 articles and 15 abstracts in numerous peer-reviewed journals related to Upper Extremity Surgery and Therapy.

Webinar Description

Hand stiffness remains one of the most common and challenging complications encountered following trauma, surgery, immobilization, and various pathological conditions affecting the upper extremity. Despite advances in surgical techniques and rehabilitation strategies, many patients continue to experience persistent loss of motion, functional limitations, pain, and difficulty returning to work and daily activities. Successful management requires a thorough understanding of the complex interplay among the skin, fascia, tendons, ligaments, joint capsules, muscles, nerves, and osseous structures that contribute to motion restriction.

This webinar will explore the multifactorial nature of hand stiffness and provide a practical framework for clinical evaluation and treatment planning. Participants will learn how to differentiate intrinsic, extrinsic, capsular, articular, and soft tissue restrictions through systematic assessment techniques and clinical reasoning. The session will also review the physiological effects of controlled mechanical stress on tissue healing and remodeling, emphasizing the principles of early protected mobilization, tendon gliding, joint mobilization, and orthotic intervention.

Evidence-based rehabilitation strategies will be presented, including exercise prescription, edema and scar management, static and dynamic orthoses, serial casting, and progressive mobilization programs. Through clinical examples and case discussions, attendees will gain practical tools to identify the primary contributors to stiffness and develop individualized treatment plans that optimize motion, function, and patient outcomes.

Learning Objectives

At the completion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the anatomical and biomechanical factors that contribute to hand stiffness following injury, surgery, immobilization, and disease.
2. Differentiate intrinsic, extrinsic, capsular, articular, and soft tissue restrictions through a structured clinical assessment process.
3. Apply principles of tissue healing and mechanobiology to determine appropriate timing and dosage of therapeutic stress during rehabilitation.
4. Select and implement evidence-based interventions, including therapeutic exercises, manual techniques, edema and scar management, and orthotic approaches for various presentations of hand stiffness.
5. Develop individualized rehabilitation programs that maximize motion, restore hand function, and improve patient outcomes while minimizing the risk of recurrent stiffness.

Introduction to Scar Therapy: Understanding Upper Limb Scars

Presented by: SOŇA S DOWDS, BSc PT, MSc PT

Bio:

SOŇA S DOWDS, BSc PT, MSc PT Sona is a Chartered Physiotherapist with 24 years of clinical experience specializing in hand and upper limb rehabilitation. She holds a BSc in Physiotherapy and an MSc in Rehabilitation Engineering from Charles University, Prague.

Her practice focuses on post-surgical, traumatic, and complex upper limb conditions, with particular expertise in scar management, tissue mobility, and functional recovery. A Restore Scar Therapy Practitioner since 2023 and Global Teaching Partner since 2025, she teaches scar therapy internationally and delivers NRX® soft splinting education. Her teaching emphasizes safe, evidence-informed clinical practice.

Webinar description:

Scars of the hand and upper limb can have a significant impact on movement, tendon glide, sensation, strength and functional recovery. Yet scar tissue is often viewed simply as a skin issue, rather than a structure capable of influencing multiple tissue layers and hand function.

This introductory webinar explores the unique characteristics of upper limb scars, including differences between volar and dorsal scars, surgical and traumatic scars, burns, grafts and common post-operative presentations. We will discuss the biology of scar formation and remodelling, how scar behaviour differs in the upper limb, and why these differences matter when planning rehabilitation.

Designed as an introduction to the Restore Scar Therapy Upper Limb course, this webinar provides the theoretical foundations needed to better understand scar tissue and its role within hand therapy practice.

Learning objectives:

1. Describe the stages of scar formation and remodelling, and explain how scar biology influences upper limb function.
2. Recognise the unique characteristics of common upper limb scars, including differences between volar, dorsal, surgical, traumatic, burn and grafted scars.
3. Explain why scar location, tissue involvement and healing stage should influence clinical reasoning and rehabilitation planning.

Bridge Plating for Fractures of the Distal Radius and Fracture-Dislocations of the Wrist

Presented by: Miguel A. Pirela-Cruz, MD, FAAOS, FACS (Col, USAF, Ret.)

Webinar Description

This webinar addresses the use of dorsal bridge plating (dorsal spanning plate fixation) in the management of complex distal radius fractures and fracture-dislocations of the wrist. Bridge plating offers a reliable, distraction-based technique for comminuted, intra-articular, and osteoporotic fractures that are not amenable to conventional fixation, as well as for high-energy carpal and perilunate fracture-dislocations.

The course reviews the clinical and radiographic indications for selecting bridge plate fixation, demonstrates the surgical technique step-by-step—including plate selection, placement along the second or third metacarpal, and reduction through ligamentotaxis—and highlights the technical nuances critical to avoiding extensor tendon irritation and rupture. The session concludes with guidance on postoperative rehabilitation, emphasizing how the therapy program is tailored to the specific injury pattern and fixation strategy, the protection of healing structures, and the timing of plate removal and return to motion.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this webinar, the learner will be able to:

1. Identify the clinical and radiographic indications for dorsal bridge plate fixation in distal radius fractures and wrist fracture-dislocations, and distinguish cases in which bridge plating is preferable to volar or fragment-specific fixation.
2. Describe the key steps of bridge plate insertion, including plate positioning, fracture reduction through ligamentotaxis, and fixation to the radial shaft and metacarpal.
3. Recognize the technical nuances and pitfalls of the procedure that minimize extensor tendon complications, including plate placement, soft-tissue handling, and tendon clearance.
4. Outline an evidence-informed postoperative rehabilitation program tailored to the injury pattern and surgical fixation, including activity progression, protection of healing structures, and considerations surrounding plate removal.

Pain Neuroscience Education for Chronic Upper Extremity Pain

Presented by: Aviva Wolff, EdD, OT, CHT

Webinar Description

Chronic upper extremity pain presents a distinct clinical challenge: when pain persists beyond tissue healing, traditional biomechanical approaches fall short. This one-hour course introduces Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) as a framework for understanding, explaining, and treating centralized pain in hand therapy practice. Participants will explore the neuroscience underlying chronic pain, learn how to communicate pain mechanisms to patients in accessible language, and gain practical tools, including graded motor imagery, mirror therapy, and patient-directed goal-setting, to integrate into a multimodal treatment approach.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Distinguish among nociceptive, neuropathic, and centralized pain mechanisms and identify clinical features of each
2. Explain how the brain generates pain as a threat-protection response using patient-accessible language and metaphors
3. Describe the evidence supporting PNE as part of multimodal treatment for chronic musculoskeletal pain
4. Apply a three-step Graded Motor Imagery sequence: laterality reconstruction, motor imagery, and mirror therapy in clinical practice
5. Select appropriate outcome measures for fear-avoidance, pain catastrophizing, and function
6. Integrate PNE principles into home programs and goal-setting to shift locus of control toward the patient

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